The Copland Corral

[vandermolen]

I'm sorry, but what did you add, Jeffrey? A David Diamond work?

Hi John,

No, I just meant that I'd add Diamond to your list of favourite American composers, who are also my favourite American composers, actually amongst my favourite composers of any nationality.

[Mirror Image]

Hi John,

No, I just meant that I'd add Diamond to your list of favourite American composers, who are also my favourite American composers, actually amongst my favourite composers of any nationality.

Ah, okay. Well, when I'm making a collage such as this one, it's difficult to fit in more than four composers.

[Mirror Image]

Revisiting Dance Panels. What a wonderful work this is! This is Copland's last ballet and it has such a gorgeous lyricism. I view this ballet as 'Copland-lite' in that there's really not a lot of the heavier rhythms like those found in Billy the Kid or Rodeo for example. I'm not sure what work I can compare this to in Copland's oeuvre or any other composer's, but, I will say that at some moments, I detect (perhaps superficially on my part) a nod to Stravinsky's Orpheus or Prokofiev's On the Dnieper.

[vandermolen]

Revisiting Dance Panels. What a wonderful work this is! This is Copland's last ballet and it has such a gorgeous lyricism. I view this ballet as 'Copland-lite' in that there's really not a lot of the heavier rhythms like those found in Billy the Kid or Rodeo for example. I'm not sure what work I can compare this to in Copland's oeuvre or any other composer's, but, I will say that at some moments, I detect (perhaps superficially on my part) a nod to Stravinsky's Orpheus or Prokofiev's On the Dnieper.

Interesting - must give this a listen to. I think I have a Naxos recording.

[Mirror Image]

Interesting - must give this a listen to. I think I have a Naxos recording.

If you have the Naxos recording then you own Slatkin's (w/ the Detroit SO), which is a fine performance. I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

[Mirror Image]

https://www.youtube.com/v/nrXo8pjnJ9A

This is so gorgeous and so simple, but, for me, that's what makes it special. It's not about elaborate harmonies or melodies, this is music that's straight from the heart. Appalachian Spring continues to have personal significance for me more and more as the years go by and Copland's own playing here only solidifies the fact that I believe him to be a true master and someone whose optimistic spirit lives on through his music.

[vandermolen]

https://www.youtube.com/v/nrXo8pjnJ9A

This is so gorgeous and so simple, but, for me, that's what makes it special. It's not about elaborate harmonies or melodies, this is music that's straight from the heart. Appalachian Spring continues to have personal significance for me more and more as the years go by and Copland's own playing here only solidifies the fact that I believe him to be a true master and someone whose optimistic spirit lives on through his music.

What a lovely clip! Thanks so much for posting it John. Aaron Copland comes across as very nice and I really liked the haunting end of Appalachian Spring on the piano. I wish there were a piano version of the complete ballet. It comes across freshly as performed by the great man himself.

[Mirror Image]

What a lovely clip! Thanks so much for posting it John. Aaron Copland comes across as very nice and I really liked the haunting end of Appalachian Spring on the piano. I wish there were a piano version of the complete ballet. It comes across freshly as performed by the great man himself.

You're welcome, Jeffrey. In every interview I've seen with Copland, he's always been thoughtful, considerate, and kind. I once read a fascinating article on Copland's compositional process and he basically wrote music in sections and rarely, if ever, composed a piece all the way through from start to finish. He once remarked: "I don't compose. I assemble materials." You'd hardly know he composed in this manner given the seamless quality of the music. He also composed everything on the piano much like Stravinsky did.

[vandermolen]

You're welcome, Jeffrey. Every interview I've seen with Copland, he's always been thoughtful, considerate, and kind. I once read a fascinating article on Copland's compositional process and he basically wrote music in sections and rarely, if ever, composed a piece all the way through from start to finish. He once remarked: "I don't compose. I assemble materials." You'd hardly know he composed in this manner given the seamless quality of the music. He also composed everything on the piano much like Stravinsky did.

That's very interesting about his compositional approach John and, as you rightly say, you would never have guessed that from the music itself.

[Mirror Image]

That's very interesting about his compositional approach John and, as you rightly say, you would never have guessed that from the music itself.

Indeed, Jeffrey.

[vandermolen]

Indeed, Jeffrey.

I like the Copland quote attached to your postings.

[Mirror Image]

I like the Copland quote attached to your postings.

Thank you, Jeffrey. Yes, a meaningful and inspiring quote for sure.

[vandermolen]

If you have the Naxos recording then you own Slatkin's (w/ the Detroit SO), which is a fine performance. I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

Just listened to this CD right through - such fun!
Dance Panels should be much better known. Oddly enough, it occasionally reminded me of Symphony 2 by the Estonian composer Lepo Sumera.
Great performances by Slatkin and the fine Detroit SO.
Another reason I like this disc is because it features one of my very favourite shorter works by Copland - Danzon Cubano - a wonderfully life-affirming work which I could, and often do, listen to again and again:

[Mirror Image]

Just listened to this CD right through - such fun!
Dance Panels should be much better known. Oddly enough, it occasionally reminded me of Symphony 2 by the Estonian composer Lepo Sumera.
Great performances by Slatkin and the fine Detroit SO.
Another reason I like this disc is because it features one of my very favourite shorter works by Copland - Danzon Cubano - a wonderfully life-affirming work which I could, and often do, listen to again and again:

Indeed. A fun work and a work, I feel, that goes unnoticed or just not as celebrated as the populist ballets (Appalachian Spring, Rodeo, etc.).

[Mahlerian]

Anyone out there who finds the Piano Fantasy as fascinating as I do?  It combines the monumental and the introspective sides of Copland's personality very successfully across a vast canvas.

[Karl Henning]

Anyone out there who finds the Piano Fantasy as fascinating as I do?  It combines the monumental and the introspective sides of Copland's personality very successfully across a vast canvas.

I should say yes, only the fact that it is some years since last I listened to it might be a drawback 

[North Star]

Anyone out there who finds the Piano Fantasy as fascinating as I do?  It combines the monumental and the introspective sides of Copland's personality very successfully across a vast canvas.

Yes.

[vandermolen]

Anyone out there who finds the Piano Fantasy as fascinating as I do?  It combines the monumental and the introspective sides of Copland's personality very successfully across a vast canvas.

Must listen to it!

[vandermolen]

A very fine CD especially for the craggy Symphonic Ode and the Symphony for Organ and Orchestra:
[asin]B01HSFG6DO[/asin]

[vandermolen]

Interestingly (well, for me anyway  ) the performance of Copland's Third Symphony on BBC Radio 3 last night used the original coda (which first appeared in Slatkins's recent Naxos/Detroit SO recording) instead of the usual version which included cuts, erroneously in my view, suggested by Leonard Bernstein. It was a bit like listening to the ending of the 1920 version of A London Symphony by Vaughan Williams as both works featured a moving section at end which was later, misguidedly IMHO, excised by the composer.